Europe Skies
by LeWritter
Summary: It's been almost a year. A year since they arrived on our planet. The government didn't react. Maybe it was out of fear. They didn't knew their purpose. But they soon made their intentions clear. It's been a year since they wipped almost the entire human population. Now all we are left to do is fight back and survive.
1. Chapter 1

Their orders were simple. Go out in a certain area of the town and search for supplies. If they make contact with the enemy , orders are to turn around and try to lose them. Hide and hope for them to leave. In case supplies are found , they need to mark the location on the map and continue searching. After checking all the possible locations on the map , they must head back to base and report their findings.

The first location on the map was a medium sized store. The store looked in pretty good shape and didn't looked trashed or destroyed. When the Skitters attacked , people ran towards the nearest stores to gather supplies in order to survive. To find a store this size and in such good condition was something very rare. In normal conditions , two scouts sent on a scavenging mission would be a huge risk. But Sam and Rebecca are not the case. Despite both being only 16 years old , this two have become the Redcoats most reliable scouts. They've been friends for a long time , both being in the same school before the invasion. They met when Sam moved in St. Helens from Kent where he lived before. Divorce can be a ugly thing and his father decided that the bigger the distance between them and his mother the better. An affair and a cut on his father left arm with a knife made this move possible. Being new , at first Sam had problems adapting to his new school. His parents spitting up, wasn't something easy for him. He always played alone or sat outside the playground and merely watched as other kids and had no cared in the world. No one seemed to see him. But then a young girl offered him her hand, introducing herself to him and invited him to play with the rest. Her name was Rebecca and he was happy that someone finally bothered to see him. Him and Rebecca immediately bonded and formed a connection that will last for years. Rebecca was his first friend in St. Helens and his best as time went by.

Leaving their bikes just outside the store , Sam and Rebecca slowly headed towards the entrance of the store. The store had his doors pulled out and the bottom hinges were barely holding them. They knew that the Skitters loved the darkness , so they entered guns first in the store , prepared to shot if anything moves. Hiding in areas where visibility was at its minimum , they could ambush their targets. Sam was the first to enter followed behind by Rebecca. Rebecca observed as Sam turned his deep blue eyes towards her and gestured to her to go check the other end of store. Despite not telling her in words , his look said to her to be careful. A quick nod from the auburn hair girl , reassured him that she got the message. Slowly heading towards the back , Sam was on the edge , ready to strike if he or Rebecca were in danger. A small flashlight helped him to make his way towards the back of the store. Walking cautiously , Sam felt his heart beat increase beyond normal as he was getting near to end. A skitter could attack him in any second if he wasn't careful. But to his relief, he reached the end of the store and there was no sign of any Skitters. Lowering his AK , Sam felt how all the anxiety , that rushed through his body just a few moments ago , slowly disappeared. With the store secure , he now needed to find Rebecca and let her know that everything is safe. Making way back to the front end of the store , he just couldn't take his eyes of the shelves. The shelves were full of cans , water and other supplies. It wasn't much but still it was enough for around two weeks. It's one of the largest discovery since he and Rebecca joined the Redcoats. Each day is a struggle to find more food and survive. But the joy of finding food and managing to get it back to base couldn't be described. A capture this size is something rare and he couldn't help himself not smiling. Focused too much on the shelves , he didn't figured that he was reaching the end of aisles and a figure jumping from around the corner , prompted Sam to quickly point the light in that direction , aiming and ready to fire. But the careless voice of his friend , made him to lower his gun and sigh in relief , glad that it wasn't a Skitter or worse… that he didn't shot one of the few people in the world that he still cared.

"Snowballs!" said Rebecca , clearly enthusiast by her discovery.

"Jesus Rebecca!" Sam almost shouted. " I could have shot you."

" You wouldn't have." Rebecca as she pointed her tongue towards him before pulling it back in.

"Yeah. Because if something suddenly jumps from around the corner and was holding a pack of Snowballs , I shouldn't shot it but gladly welcome her or it with my arms wide open." Said Sam , sarcastic in his answer.

"No. But not every post-apocalyptic day , your best friend jumps from around the corner holding not one… buut… two Snowballs , for them to share in this dark times."

Sam took the small package , smiling to Rebecca as he started to unwrap it. The taste of the Snowball reminded him of the days before the invasion , when everything was normal and you weren't fighting to stay alive. He still remembers the day they arrived. It all started without a warning , as they started to bombard the cities. He was in school when it all happened. The first thing he did was grabbing Rebecca's hand and struggling through the falling debris to find shelter. They head towards the basement , where he and Rebecca used to go when they weren't in the mood for boring classes. Covering her head with his arm , he tried to protect her against anything that could fall on them. A large explosion covered the entrance in the basement with large piles of wreckage , trapping them inside and stopping anyone from entering. They were alone. Outside bombs continued to explode , bringing destruction and death. They just stood there alone, hoping that everything will be over soon. But that was just the beginning.

Savoring their last pieces of the chocolate cake , the two youngsters left the store and climbed on their bikes. As Sam took his time to adjust his weapon on his shoulder , pulling his jacket in all direction so that it will cause him any discomfort while driving , Rebecca circled on the map the X that stood for the location of the store. This place had supplies which would help the Redcoats but there are a few other places to check before heading back to camp.

As they start to rev their bikes , the sound of moving metal components catch their attention. There was no time to try and run away , as the lights of the Mech could be seen right behind the corner. Leaving their bikes , the two teenagers quickly ran in the store and panicked , took shelter behind the cashier desk. Rebecca moved herself into Sam's arms , who took her under his protection. Now all they could do was wait. Wait for the sound of the Mech to disappear and its lights to head in another direction. But the sound was getting closer and closer to store and Sam soon realized that the Mech wasn't alone. Carefully peaking from behind the counter, Sam saw the Mech searching for something and it was accompanied by a few Skitters. Sensing their presence close , Sam took one of his hands of Rebecca and used it t grab a pistol from a inside pocket in his jacket. Despite not as powerful as a AK shot , a bullet from this distance could still kill a Skitter. The Skitters sensed something was different and they cautiously approached the store , while the Mech has already prepared its guns and was aiming for the store.

A mistake came but it wasn't made by the skitters or by Sam and Rebecca. Sam gulped as he soon realized , that someone else made the deadly mistake. Someone chose the wrong moment to try and run. The fast pace of a pair of feet could be heard in the streets. Breathing fast , he or she was trying to get away from the aliens but it was useless. He stumbled and with that , the person sealed its faith. Sam figured it was a woman and heard as she was trying to get up and continue running. The Mechs triangular aim system quickly locked on its target and shot. The bullets went through the helpless victims body with such ease. There were no screams of pain. The victim died the moment the bullet pierced her body , ending any potential suffering if she was still alive. Sam was frustrated by all this but couldn't help be grateful of her mistake. If it wasn't for her attempt to run , the Skitters would have certainly found them. But still it was another death , on the already high body count. That woman was a survivor and maybe would have been a valuable asset to their group. But now her body was being dragged away by the Skitters on the street. He and Rebecca were lucky but survived at the cost of another life.

As the sound of the Mech slowly disappeared in the distance , Sam and Rebecca still didn't come out from their hiding place. They waited for a few minutes just to be sure that they were gone. Finally deciding that is safe to leave , they exited the store , remaining silent as Sam checked the bikes. His eyes followed his auburn hair friend as she headed away from her bike towards the place where it happened. Reaching the spot , she fell on one of her knees and watched the bloodied area.

In her mind she couldn't help but imagine how she looked. Maybe she was had blonde hair and blue eyes. Or maybe she was a brunette and had hazel eyes. Rebecca continued to make up her story. Before the invasion , she was an actor , struggling like everyone else to make her living. She had a son , who was the light of her life. Despite being divorced , she still was in a friendly relationship with her ex-husband. Or maybe she was still happily married to her high-school crush. Endless possibilities and ways to describe the woman that just died. But she couldn't know she looked. How she felt. All that she knew was that she made a mistake and paid with her life.

Her once care-free eyes filled with sadness. She saw a lot of death and suffering since the beginning of the invasion but still it gets to her every time. A drop of tear slowly poured down her soft cheek in the memory of the person who died at the hands of enemy. Sam just sat on his bike and watched her. He got used to this kind of situations. Despite not personally knowing any of them , he knew that Rebecca still cared. That's how she is. Touching her forehead with the tip of her fingers , Rebecca gestured a cross as she mumbled a few words , a prayer for the person who just died. With that she gets up and heads back towards bike , erasing any evidence of the tear that she shed. Sam knew her too well , despite her attempts to put on a fake smile and act like everything is well.

"Where next?" Said Rebecca , trying to forget what just happened.

"Base." Sam simply said before starting his engine and smiling to his friend. They were almost discovered and witnessed the cold execution of somebody.

"But we still need to check a few other places." Rebecca tried to make him change his mind. "I'm fine." She said putting the fakest smile he has ever seen.

"We found some supplies. Plus I don't think Lieutenant Stewart wouldn't want us to risk being discovered again." Sam was confident in his answer and that he knew how Lt. Stewart would react to this situation.

A smile was Rebecca's only response to Sams words. He knew her too well to not figure out when she is lying or not. There was no point in trying to change his mind because he would take the blame on him if Lieutenant Stewart wouldn't happy with his call. But this couldn't go on forever. She couldn't just break down in tears every time someone dies and Sam would come and help her back up. But that's the way she is. That's how she always been. And she knew that despite not showing it , Sam was like her. But he does a great job in fighting back his emotions and holding them back. It's been a while since she saw the real Sam. He used to be so happy. He was always with a smile on his face and made jokes and. Now he sometimes seems so distant. She needs to put in a lot of effort to make him smile. But with each passing day, she still hopes that somewhere , down there , he is still the old Sam and that this new Sam wasn't all that is left of him.

The pair started their engines and turned around to head back to base. Supplies have been found and the Lieutenant must know so that a squad could be sent to retrieve it , despite being in enemy controlled land. Risks must be taken in order to survive.


	2. Chapter 2

The Redcoats base is the former St. Helens College. It was a small complex of buildings , which were now used to house the Recoats civilians and fighters. Positioned in a more secluded part of St. Helens , away from the heavily protected town center , this place offers good place for the Redcoats to use as a temporary base.

Closing in on the base , the dangers of the demolished city are further and further away from them , so Sam and Rebecca slowly began to relax. The cruel execution was becoming a distant memory. No need to waste time thinking about it. At the cover of darkness , sentries are on the roof of the building , patrolling and looking for any sign of Skitters. While on the ground , piles of rubbles and car parts surround the building. Behind where fighters , ready to fire if Skitters attack the base. Armed with British military standard issued rifles , SA80's , four M50's mounted on pickups , AK's and a GMG grenade launcher , the Redcoats fighters felt confident in repelling an attack. The sound of the bikes approaching signals their arrival and immediately a car pushed off the road , making room for them to enter.

The former college was full of fighters , training , improving and preparing for action. At this time of the day , civilians were usually moved in the building , making room for the fighters to move freely , without any civilians to get in their way. Passing through the scattered crowd of fighters , Sam and Rebecca reach the side of the building , where they give they hand the bikes to a soldier assigned to deal with them. Placing them inside a small storage , the soldier addresses to them.

"Early for you two kids to arrive home."

"Found a store and the enemy almost found us." Sam said , not making eye contact with the man.

"The lieutenant's going to be pissed if the store was compromised." Sam could almost feel the satisfaction in his voice but decided to say nothing.

The college ground was full with fighters training to be soldiers. The real soldiers died when they attacked. After bombing the cities , they attacked the military bases. Humanity was left defenseless in a matter of hours. A proper counter-attack couldn't be mounted and the surviving soldiers left in groups and tried to hide until things calmed down. The remaining soldiers are reservists or are lucky ones , who escaped when the skitters attacked. But despite not holding a gun in their life , Sam was still confident in them. Training lasted four hours in the morning and another four after the civilians were moved in the building. Lieutenant James Stewart pushed their limits. He needed soldiers and he will be needing them soon.

A small building situated several feet away from the main building acted as the Command Center. Despite the Redcoats almost entire force was formed of inexperienced fighters , James Stewart still managed to find a few real soldiers. They act as trainers for the rest or as a personal guard for him. Two of them acted as guards at the entry of the building , where only military personal are allowed to enter and the representative of the civilians. Here is where the Redcoats future actions are decided. Making way through the base , Sam and Rebecca haven't spoken since the incident. While Sam was fixated at reaching the Lieutenant , Rebecca was behind him but was more interested in the fighters training than to follow order like Sam is doing. It was brutal. Pushups , running laps , team action , holding a gun. She stopped in her tracks and watched as a soldier was yelling at a man , who dropped in exhaustion. Everyone around him stopped and could only sit and watch as the soldier was verbally harassing the exhausted man. The man tried to get up , using his arms but he fell back on the ground , unable to move. Gasping for air , he felt a sudden weight on his neck. The soldier was taunting him.

" You can lift yourself up and you want to survive?" Other trainers stopped their trainings and watched how their fellow superior , abused his power.

"Why did the aliens decide to kill all the good men and leave us useless Muffin Tops like you?" The man was trying to get foot of his neck but the soldier was still pressing.

Rebecca saw that Sam was gone. He didn't even stop to look or to show some concern for what was happening. She grinned her teeth and yelled at the soldier.

"Stop being such a prick and leave him alone." Everyone turned towards her , as she was stomping the ground towards them.

"Have you actually gone mad? Defying a superior officer is three days in solitary." The soldier had a new target. Leaving the man alone , he started to slowly walk towards her , eying her as he was getting closer.

"Can't you see he's exhausted?" Rebecca pointed towards the man , screaming from the top of her lungs at the soldier.

"He is weak and parasite. His only goal is to stay with us , to protect him and eat our supplies. Those who can help us fight the Buggers , are expendable." Rebecca was trying to stop herself from punching him. That'll be a week in the solitary and one thing she hates the most is alone in the darkness of the basement.

"I said leave him alone."The men were watching , trying to figure out what will happen next. A 16 year old girl was going against a man who was almost triple her age.

"Or else?" The soldier said in a mocking voice , with a large grin on his recently shaved face.

" Now , now Tom. Let's not go that way. You know she will beat you up before you have time call for the Lieutenant." A voice was heard from the crowd. The men stepped aside , as from behind a man made towards the circle that was formed around them.

" Now why would I do that , Barnett?" Tom said , feeling insulted by those words.

"Because that's the only thing you are actually good at. Kissing our lord commanders ass." The man could be seen clearly as he made way towards the two confronting figures in the middle.

He was in his late twenties , standing around 1,80 with a muscular build. His brownish hair was made to stand leaned on a side and he had deep blue eyes. He held his SA80 over his shoulder as he continued to walk towards him. Tom being one of James Stewart's men , was forced to wear the standard military uniform , while Barnett being a civilian , was wearing normal civilian clothes.

"Again you disrespect me in front of the men. You are a bad influence to everyone else." Toms patience was wearing out as he took a stand in front of Barnett. But Barnett choose to ignore him and walked pass him , towards the man who was laying on the floor.

" Fill a complaint." Barnett said , not even looking at tom as he grabbed the man by the arm and helped him up on his feet.

"You okay?" Barnett asked , as the man simply nodded.

"That man is a disgrace. Like the rest of this useless bunch." By now tom forgot about Rebecca , who was still standing right behind and was smiling as Tom was losing it.

"Tom. You really should work on your people skills. Go and rest." Barnett padded the man on the shoulder and then turned towards the crowd that gathered to see the scene. "Training is over for tonight. Go to rest. Group Three and Four. It's your shift. Take your positions." With those words , the crowd dispersed. Barnett could hear as men were relieved. Tom exhausted them and was time for someone to stop him.

After everyone left , Barnett smiled and left with Rebecca. Behind them , Tom was infuriated. Grabbing his cap , he slammed it on the ground and cursed in his mind.

"One day I will kick his ass." Rebecca said to Barnett , still pissed after what just happened.

"You and the rest of the Redcoats." Barnett started to shake his hand in her hair , who immediately pushed it away.

"I told you to stop doing that." Rebecca shot back.

"Not much of a listener." Barnett said smiling. "Where's Sam?" He said looking around , almost hoping to see him around there.

"What do you think?" Barnett let out a sigh , as he saw her disappointment.

As the two reached the entrance to the building , the guards assigned to guard the door , stepped in front of door , blocking the way.

"Despite seeing me almost every day , you still make me to follow that god damn rule?" The two men didn't react at all to his words. They just stood and looked him in the eyes.

"Fine. Dominic Barnett. 3rd Squad Leader and Mechanic." He responded , clearly frustrated by this.

"Rebecca Wallace. 3rd Squad Scout." Rebecca quickly followed.

The two soldiers removed themselves from the door and allowed them to pass. Barnett shook his head in disbelief and entered the building. A single corridor was stretched in front of them , with doors on each side. Ignoring the other doors , Dominic and Rebecca headed directly to the ones they knew was the right one. Opening it , they found themselves in a large room , with a table sitting right in the middle and a large map stretched on it. Six persons were surrounding the table , all eyes on the map. Rebecca quickly spotted Sam on a seat near the end of the table. He didn't bother to look , focused more on the words of the lieutenant than her presence. As their presence was noticed , a large figure rose from the end of the table and with a rough voice , addressed to the newcomers.

"Dominic , next time you'll insult Sergeant Cooper , I will put you to be beaten. I will not tolerate such insubordination." Lieutenant Stewart took his usual approach to situations involving lack of respect for rank.

"Maybe next time you'll tell him to stop trying to kill the men and maybe train them." Dominic shot back as he took from a inside pocket a cigarette and lighted it up , puffing out a large cloud of smoke as he headed towards the table.

"They need discipline and training." Stewart said , defending his subordinate.

"They also need to be alive and battle fit. If he keeps beating them up like this it's going to be you and your men against the Buggers." Finishing his sentence , Dominic and Rebecca took a seat at the table.

"Back to more important matters. Sam and Rebecca scouted this area on the map and found small stashes of supplies in three locations and a medium size location here." Lieutenant Stewart placed his large index on the map , covering the X that Rebecca drawn with his finger. "Dominic. Your next mission is to retrieve the supplies from there. The other three will supplies will be taken care by Elizabeth and her squad. Is that understood by all of you?" The lieutenant asked , looking at those present at the meeting. Everyone nodded to his question." Good. This meeting is over. You will leave for your location tomorrow morning at 0800 hours. Dismissed." The meeting was at its end.

Outside , the cold started to be felt inside the camp. Trying to protect himself against the cold winds , Dominic closes up his jacket and shivers a bit , sensing the difference in temperature. With his cigarette almost finished , he decided it's enough and throws what's left of it on the ground , stomping on it just to be sure is out. Above him , clouds started to form , hiding the stars from his sight and announcing the possible arrival of a storm.

While the other members of the briefing decided to call it for tonight and went to their quarters , Dominic always stayed a little longer than the rest. He enjoyed how much calmer the camp is after everyone went to sleep. During the day , the camp is full of people and soldiers running in all directions. Plus the scouting missions , the always present threat off being discovered by the skitters makes him unable to sit back and relax for just a few seconds.

It's just him and a few soldiers up at this hour and all of them are positioned at the improvised barricade surrounding the camp. That barricade acts as the first line of defense in case of a Skitter assault on the base. But at this time of the night Dominic uses it as a place where he meditates. Climbing on top of the pile rubble and car parts , Dominic looks around to find the perfect place where to sit down. And he finds it. An old desk put up there to add more height to the wall. As he lays down , he takes his gun off and places it on his side.

In front of him what was left of St. Helens was stretched. Partially destroyed buildings , occasional fires started by them to distract the Skitters in a scouting mission. Grass started to grow through the cracks in the road , the first sign that Mother Nature is taking back what was hers a long time ago. Watching the streets and buildings that stretched in front of him , Dominic couldn't help himself not imagining how it all was before the invasion. Blurry images of cars driving on a unaffected road , unclear images of people walking on the sidewalk , talking , socializing. Back then life seemed so perfect for them. No struggle for survival , no constant threat of a Skitter attack or bombing.

Behind him , a woman made way towards where he was. Dominic was to stuck in his dream state to notice her. All he could hear was the sound of the cars , the laugh of the children. He could almost feel a warm summer wind brushing his face. But a sudden realization of the womans made all of it to disperse in the air.

"How long have you been standing there Eli?" Dominic asked , rubbing the sides of temples.

"Long enough to watch you zoom out again." Eli responded.

"I saw how it was before they attacked." Dominic said , turning towards her , pain written on his face.

"I bet it was something." Eli said , putting on a smile.

"It was. Why are you still up?" Raised a eyebrow as he looked at her. "Are you following me?" Dominic said with a small grin.

"Actually I never sleep at this time. I always stay back after you all leave and check and double check the map for possible locations and course of action." Eli said.

"You actually do that?" Dominic asked , a bit taken back by the recently revealed information.

"I'm the most capable one to do this. With three years in the St. Helens police I think I have a very detailed knowledge of the city. Plus none of you are capable of doing that." Eli said , making Dominic to almost burst in a laugh.

"If you say so , Elizabeth." Dominic said , clearly struggling to hold back a laugh.

"Let's see if you can do something right." Eli said to Dominic in a harsh tone.

"I'm only here to repair cars and protect you against those buggers." Dominic said.

"And to piss off Stewart." Elizabeth said that amused.

"I have something against authority. And when he allows pricks like Tom to abuse their power then don't expect me to stand by and let it all happen." Dominic said , irritated as he recalled what happened earlier that night.

"Stewart has his flaws but he keeps us together. If we want to survive we need discipline and someone to impose it." Elizabeths answer makes Dominic to sigh in disbelief.

"You sound like him. If he keeps pushing their limits…" Dominic pauses as he points towards the building where the civilians were housed. "Then maybe we won't nothing to protect." Dominic said those words in a calmer tone. "They're the reasons we still fight."

"They survived until now because of Stewart and his men." Elizabeth said.

"And with you always backing him up , thanks to you." Dominic said. "You know you want to say it."

"And yes because of me." Elizabeth paused. "But all this is necessary." Elizabeth said.

"Not to this extent." Dominic said disappointed. " I think it's time for some rest. See you in the morning." With that Dominic took his gun and walked down off the barricade.

Elizabeth didn't even bother to stop Dominic as he left the barricade and distanced himself from her and headed towards his room. While Dominic was getting further , Elizabeth chose to stay a little longer on the barricade. She chose a small piece of rock. Touching it with the tip of her fingers , she analyzed the rock from all the angles. In the end , she throws the piece of rock with all her force in a nearby tree. The sound of the rock hitting the tree didn't brought her any comfort , as she still felt the frustration from how her discussion with Dominic went. But nothing good could come out from this night , so she decides to go to sleep. As she heads towards her room , she hopes that by tomorrow things between her and Dominic would be once again good.


End file.
